Passive programming as a wellness strategy for the overworked outreach librarian
by Ginny Barnes
Passive programming, or self-directed activities or exhibits that users interact with at their own time and pace, is not a new engagement practice but in the context of the current labor movement, it presents a way we can shift trends in library outreach and work culture (Freudenberger, 2019). While existing literature provides many insights into the benefits of passive programming for library patrons and institutional goals, there is less discussion on its distinct benefits to workers. As the essence of passive programming is slow and self-paced it demonstrates how we as library workers can meaningfully engage patrons while respecting our own capacity. Here I explore the connections between the culture of outreach and capitalism and share examples of my academic library’s experimentation with passive programming from the lens of work reform.
The culture of outreach is a culture of capitalism
As defined by the American Library Association, the goal of library outreach is “to provide equitable delivery of library services to all people through the development of programs, policies, practices, and behaviors which make the library available to all people” (ALA, 2016). While libraries undoubtedly fall short of these goals, many librarians, as people dedicated to their communities, still relentlessly strive towards them. This makes outreach library workers susceptible to vocational awe, perceiving the labor of outreach as a noble duty and often leading to a workload beyond their capacity (Ettarh, 2018). These internal pressures are compounded with high expectations from library administrative and large governing bodies seeking quantitative outcomes often without providing sufficient support through staffing, funding, or policy. In Katrina Spencer’s gift to library and passion workers alike, “The Comprehensive Guide to Resisting Overcommitment,” she names capitalism as the driving force of overcommitment: “With capitalism’s pervasiveness, an indelible foundation of North American history …it is not so surprising that its tenets inform, touch, and shape countless industries, including library and information science” (Spencer, 2022). Outreach culture like capitalism seeks more—more energy, passion, creativity, action, impact—and it seeks it now. This sense of urgency and emphasis on productivity can leave library workers, especially eager, early-career professionals, constantly giving with little left for themselves. Because outreach can be interpreted in different ways this makes it more susceptible to job creep, or “the slow and subtle expansion of job duties” (Van Dyne & Ellis, 2004). Many public and academic libraries have designated outreach librarians, but other librarians and library workers do outreach, even in roles that are not explicitly dedicated to this area. Outreach could be interpreted as efforts to engage patrons strictly outside the library such as with offsite presentations or resource fairs. However, as ALA’s definition demonstrates, there is an increasing emphasis on outreach used interchangeably with Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility, and Justice (DEIAJ) work. This opens the floodgates for outreach to include events, exhibits, workshops, committees, collection development, programs, policy reform, research and more. This makes it difficult to draw boundaries when workloads increase.
High participation is often a marker of outreach success although a common challenge of traditional programming is promotion. The ever-present fear of putting months of planning and coordination into a one-time, sometimes one-hour, event with minimal attendance is a main source of anxiety and stress. Participation is valuable and may lead to community building, but there are many barriers that can deter patrons from it. Single-day, synchronous events can be impactful, but they ask more of patrons and workers when both groups are likely deficient in the time and energy required to actively engage. Moreover, the result may be that only white and/or affluent community members are in attendance, as the underserved community members, namely Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) patrons, are often those without the privilege of free time. Furthermore, outreach initiatives, especially those focused on DEIAJ, must consider not only our patrons, but our library workers and organizing partners as well. Community partner organizations and volunteers may also feel their time is wasted or undervalued when there is low participation in library outreach programs. The result can be demoralizing for library workers who spent time and sincere care in creating thoughtful and imaginative programs.
Wall of post-it notes and sign that says What Keeps You Motivated to Succeed in School?
Outreach culture expects bright-eyed smiles and energetic participants. For anyone, however, there are times we feel motivated to reach out, truly wanting a sense of community, and there are times when we need to withdraw, self sooth and reflect. To perform otherwise would be inauthentic. With budget cuts and low staffing, library workers also experience that same desire to withdraw and experience low morale resulting in less energy to motivate others to engage (Kendrick, 2017). In Anna White’s study on library instruction overwork, they found the conundrum of librarians setting boundaries with workload is the guilt experienced by saying no, anticipating the negative impact to patrons not receiving service (White, 2023). The source of this guilt is misplaced as it is capitalism that benefits from the individual worker perceiving systemic failures as their own. No amount of effort by a single library worker will remove all barriers and deterrents from patron engagement. To think otherwise is indicative how capitalism warps and fuses our perceived sense of worth with our quality of labor. Spencer’s (2022) overcommitment self-audit encourages us to reflect:
Ask yourself, then, when you take on “just one more” role of service, “What am I trying to prove and to whom?” Who benefits from having workers who feel so out of place that they are willing to overburden themselves with work to establish some form of identity?
Passive programming expects less and does more
In my position as a First Year Student Success Librarian, I divide my duties for instruction and outreach into two equal parts, but it is the latter that often generates the most stress. As I plan end of semester activities and programs, a time when students experience the most stress and often neglect tending to their physical and mental health, I am not blind to the irony that I seldom follow my own advice. After years of experiencing this challenge, I have shifted my approach by building relationships with our Student Health and Counseling Center (SHCC). Collaborating with their health educator, I found a colleague and friend with whom I share values and share creative inspiration. Together we continually make an effort to model the practices of self-care and wellness we promote to students.
Wall of colorful drawings. An image in the middle says Keep Going.
Leaning on their expertise, the first change we made to our library’s end of semester programs was to extend them beyond the last week of the semester. Since the spring 2022 semester, we now begin our wellness programs and messaging a month before and through to the end of the semester. That semester SHCC student assistants also proposed program ideas informed by their research on the health benefits of engaging the five senses through mindfulness exercises (Hussien Ahmed). Coupling this with our interest in passive engagement, we developed “The Wondrous World of the Sensations” an interactive exhibit including seven installations in various open spaces of the library. Each installation focused on different senses by tapping into aspects of the existing environment. This brought attention to architectural features of our building like our metal staircase designed to sound like rain as you walk up and down, and hidden gems of our collection like our Enology and Viticulture Center’s scent library. Our goal was to relieve student stress by interrupting it, identifying public spaces where small, meaningful elements could invite curiosity and presence. Instead of asking students to make time for wellness via attending an event, this approach allowed for students already in the library to stumble upon low-stakes opportunities to receive the benefits of engaging their senses.
Passive programs are not easy to produce but by their own nature, ease is much more possible. By extending the timeframe for patron interaction, say from 1 hour to 1 month, there is a significant reduction of pressure and anxiety for the workers planning and implementing these programs. As a result, it creates room for more presence and enjoyment. I can think of many times I have facilitated a fun workshop, intriguing panel discussion, or creative activity that I was not myself able to fully participate in. This is what needs to change in our library outreach culture. I see myself in those moments with an increased heart rate, compulsively checking my phone, and speaking to colleagues and students while my mind wanders to another task. I don’t want my stress to become others’ stress. Being busy and overworked shouldn’t be a character trait. A connection to the present, which mindfulness and the senses invoke, is important for wellness and necessary to build and maintain authentic relationships. As Andrea Baer states in her article on librarian well-being: “consider how we wish to be and interact in those spaces… With such reflection, we can better resist vocational awe and simultaneously experience the generative qualities of awe and wonder that so often drive meaningful inquiry and the lifelong process of learning” (Baer, 2023). As much as I am motivated to serve my community through library outreach, I often neglect to consider myself also a member of the community. Through passive programs I have found it easier to let go and enjoy more.
One common passive program our library has continued to promote each semester is coloring. In addition to setting out coloring pages and pencils for students to pick up, we also set up a “Reflection Wall” for students to engage with questions and pin up their works of art. Simply taking time to look at the wall as it evolves over the week reminds me why I do this work. In the conversations, I see students vent, validate, and cheer each other on. Others express gratitude to the people who have helped them grow. The empty space of the wall invites students to lead the engagement. This is just one example of the ways we can create more space in our outreach programs and other work duties. Belaboring details in event planning can sometimes take away from meaningful engagement that emerges naturally when we give patrons the room to set the agenda. Moving away from the urgency, demands, and performative gestures of outreach culture, we could insist upon work with flexible deadlines, evolving outcomes, and real collaboration.
Drawing a log cabin with people running near it. Above the drawing in red letters is written Free Palestine. Next to the drawing is a post-it note that says Stressed for - an open ended comment.
An upsetting parallel I saw in literature about passive programming was its creation in response to budget cuts, low staffing, and the COVID-19 pandemic of which the former two have been long and persistent problems in the library field. While the practice of quiet quitting—a term which emerged on social media [see @zaidlepplin’s Tik Tok] [Transcript] that describes doing the bare minimum of labor required to keep your job—is not new the concept has more recently gained popularity, and it is causing concern for managers and leaders across sectors (Herway). From the capitalist perspective working less, means less productivity and less profit. However, as engagement methods like passive programs demonstrate, less effort can and does lead to more impact. As Spencer’s guide insists, “Going slowly is not indicative of a lack of dedication. On the contrary: resisting the fictions of immediacy in our work is an act of self-preservation and a precursor of steady, deliberate, and meaningful engagement.” The ethos of passive programming is one we can apply to all aspects of our work culture. By working less, slowing down, and pushing against the bigger, better, faster mentality, workers can experience more satisfaction and fruitfulness from their labor.
As Kristina Santiago shares in her reflection on the MLIS experience in quarantine, “the pace of graduate school, even pre-pandemic, has always been unsustainable.” The same can be said of our various library work environments and beyond. Since the work from home modality has become more widely accepted following the beginning of the COVID 19 pandemic and after a summer of strikes this year across sectors, there is evidence that the fight for workers’ rights is gaining leverage in changing the culture (Liu, 2023; Fareed, 2023). In addition to saying no to additional work, passive programming demonstrates how we can also change the way we work. Challenging popular understandings of participation beyond attendance and loud bustling events, opens possibilities for more inclusive and sustainable engagement for everyone.
Before our roles as library workers, patrons, users, students, faculty, or staff, we are people first. I often turn to Ashleigh Coren’s article “You know what? I think I’ll stay for a while” to recenter myself and my goals as a librarian (2018). I love playful learning, creativity, connecting with others, and witnessing students define their own voices; work should not subvert this joy and curiosity especially as we seek to promote it. The pace set when I began my first librarian position not even five years ago has me now struggling to keep my head above water. The research and reflections of writers and leaders in the BIPOC library community is leading me to the shore.
Image of colorful drawing of a sugar glider like critter
GINNY BARNES
is doing their best in the California Central Valley. Currently the First Year Student Success Librarian at Fresno State Library, they support new and incoming students in their navigation through the complex world of higher education. Wherever possible they merge art and community with education resulting in poetry slams, workshops, zines, and more. Read their recent collaborative publication, Love Letter to Banned Books, a celebration of the books that have shaped and saved us.
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